In what looked like an ending straight from a Hollywood blockbuster film. Rooney scored a spectacular goal with a little over 10 minutes remaining to give United the 2-1 lead over Manchester City of all teams!

And if you look closely, the goal was right in front of Balotelli. Balotelli was the one who criticized Rooney only a few weeks ago.

Money may not be able to buy happiness, but it sure helps with confidence.

Both Toure and Tevez had some comments for United. If this was three or four years ago, no Manchester City player would dare shout out a warning of any kind to United. Mostly because they would have been dismissed as rubbish.

Gary Neville becomes only the second of the United's "Class of 92″ to hang up his boots. The famed "class of 92″ which won the Youth FA Cup in 1992 included the likes of David Beckham, Nicky Butt, Ryan Giggs, Keith Gillespie, Robbie Savage and Paul Scholes.

But like Nicky Butt last season, Gary Neville is well aware of his abilities at age 36 and has decided to step back.

Berbatov becomes only the third player in Premier League history to score three hat tricks in one season. He joins van Nistelrooy and Alan Shearer.

United wasted no time as Berbatov scored a header in the first two minutes of play off a flick from O'Shea. The man who replaced Rafael, who is out due to a suspension.

Since United officially signed 26-year-old Danish goalkeeper Anders Lindegaard on January 6th. It has put the number two spot, soon to be number one spot, up for grabs.

Kuszczak has been waiting for this opportunity since 2007, and says he is ready to succeed Van der Sar, but I'm not sure he is too confident based on his interview with the Manchester evening news.

Federico Macheda has been loaned to Italian club Sampdoria after Antonio Cassano departure to Milan.

"Macheda has easily filled the void left by Cassano, he will definitely do well," Garrone said.

"In these five months we will try to treat him well. With him here, the enthusiasm has increased tenfold.

The last time Manchester United suffered a defeat on New Years day back was back in 1996, against Spurs at White Heart Lane. This time it was Rooney who would lead the Red Devils. Rooney who has had a rocky start to the season, to say the least would finally get his first goal from open play since last March!

The Glazers could finally have an offer they can't refuse. The Sun is reporting that Qatar Holdings, the business arm of the Qatari royal family headed by Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, could be preparing a £1.5 billion take-over bid for Manchester United

"They have made tentative moves before with little success, but this time it looks like they could be going for it," said an expert in Middle East football, who is convinced that the time is right for the Qatari purchase.

With United well on their way to a record 19th Premier League title, Sir Alex has reiterated that he has no plans of retiring any time soon.

"The older you get the more worried you are about retiring," Sir Alex told MUTV "You start to realise that whilst you have got your health and good fitness, you should carry on in your job.

Manchester United have drawn french side Olympique Marseille for their first match of the Champions League knock-out stage. If United advance, they will face the winner of Bayern vs Inter Milan in a repeat of last years final.

I look at this United side, and I don't think of it as being as strong a side as their impressive record shows.

Brazilian midfielder Anderson Luís de Abreu Oliveira has signed a four-and-a-half year contract, that will see the 22-year-old stay at Old Trafford until June 2015.

"We are delighted he has signed a new contract," Ferguson told manutd.com

"Anderson has developed tremendously since joining us and he has fantastic potential at only 22; he is going to be a really top player.

Manchester United will be defending their unbeaten record against the league leaders, in a match that could see United move to the top of the table with a game in hand.

The Gunners have a number of weapons in their Arsenal, but none more dangerous than Samir Nasri at the moment. Nasri has led Arsenal to the top of the table, scoring key goals and giving the Gunners some hope "after Cesc" if the Spaniard does decide to head back to his youth club.

Ryan Giggs has expressed his feeling toward United's unbeaten record this season ahead of their Arsenal clash.

"We are proud of the unbeaten record," he said.

"People have not given us the respect we think we deserve but that is probably down to the manner of our results.

"We have thrown away games we should be winning.

Manchester United played Valencia to a draw, which secured both clubs advancement into the next round of the competition; with United going through as group leaders and avoiding a second-round clash with Real Madrid, Barcelona, or Chelsea because they will all finish as group leaders. The round of 16 draw will be held December 17th.

After an awful self inflicted ankle injury which not only broke Antonio Valencia's ankle but also severely damaged ligaments and had him out for the rest of the season, the 25 year old is now due is return as early as January. Thanks to a state of the art rehabilitation program invented by NASA to help astronauts replicate the feeling of exercising in space.